Horrible Experience

Posted Wed March 19, 2008 5:38 pm, by Laura E. written to Vonage

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I ordered the Vonage service in late Feb, early March. I was told that it was 9.95 for a free trial, that the charge was only for mailing equipment, and that after that 30 day trial, I would be given two months free service.
The operator told me that if I decided to cancel within that 30 days, I would not be charged anything and would simply have to return the equipment, and I would then be refunded the 9.95 I was out. I SPECIFICALLY asked him what the total charge would be if I decided to cancel. And again, he told me 9.95.
I get the equipment over a week later. (And keep in mind.. the time I spend waiting for my equipment counts in the 30 days) And I then realize that I don't have the correct modem to be able to hook it up. I have the cable modem that only allows me to hook up my computer. There was no other place to plug in the equipment that was sent. When I called Vonage to let them know, they told me I would have to go and purchase a router.
Well.. I'm a single mom of a 10 month old on a very limited budget. So I decide to cancel it because I can't afford to go buy a router, and wasn't about to pay for something I can't use.
I call to cancel.They tell me there is going to be a charge of 39.99. And I explain to the woman that no, I was told there was no charge. I explained to her that I did not have that money in my bank account and if they tried to take it out, my account would become overdrawn, charging me an overdraft fee of $29.00.
I spoke to TWO reps, and TWO supervisors and all they kept saying is that they couldn't change that because it's in the terms of service that "I" agreed to. When in fact, it was the first person I talked to who signed me up for it who accepted the terms of service on my behalf. So kind of him... One of the supervisors I spoke with, had even told me to wait until I got paid again so that I would have the money in my account to cover it. I told him that by the time I get paid again, the 30 day trial will be over, and that also I wouldn't have the money then either.
So, no way around it. They end up putting the charge on my card. And they tell me that once the package is received, I will get my refund back within 48 hours. They said it would be debited back into my account.
My account becomes overdrawn, and I get charged the overdraft fee as well.
AND on top of that, they charged nearly $50 (I believe it was 46.70), when she said it would only be 39.99.
Okay, I'm mad. But whatever. I mailed the equipment back on March 10th, the day I cancelled. I get an email on March 17th (A FULL WEEK AFTER I CANCEL)saying that I must print out the email and include it in the package in order to receive my refund.
So.. I call vonage again.
And the woman says the exact same thing as if she were reading the email to me word for word. She tells me that without the email, they can't refund the money because they don't have a way of knowing who the refund is supposed to go to. I then ask her how I was supposed to have included it in the package when I received the email a week after I cancelled and mailed the equipment back.
She had no answer for that.
After I more or less chewed her out for an hour or so, which I'm not proud of, but was highly upset at this point, because now the refund is quite a bit more when you add the 9.95 back in, she then tells me that she will escalate the situation to management and that once they receive the package, they will try to use the return address to give me my refund. And that it would take a minimum of 15 days for the refund to be put back into my account...which is 13 days LONGER than what I was initially told.
I feel that these people are nothing but scammers and liars.

I would like Vonage to return my money! I have the receipt to prove when I mailed everything back to them!
I would also like for them to reimburse me the $29.00 overdraft fee that was put on my account because of the charge they put on my account.

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Re: Horrible Experience by Knuckles Posted Wed March 19, 2008 @ 9:21 PM This is a very sad situation, and a combination of questionable customer service and inadequate risk planning. It pains me to see people running so close to the edge that an unexpected charge such as this causes a hefty overdraft fee. I agree that the customer service you received pretty much stinks. Hopefully they will be able to make you whole, but I don't know if you will be able to recover the overdraft fee. I would also suggest you find a way to increase you cushion, so that in the future if an unexpected charge comes in it won't shake your world. I keep upwards of a $200 buffer in my checking account for this purpose. I don't keep a checkbook, and never have, so the main reason I leave the $ in the account is to cover an item I forgot about. It may be easier for me to have a cushion than you, but if you can build it up it is there and not something that is expensive to maintain (lost interest). It would essentially cost around $10 on a good day ($5 right now) to leave it there for a year. That is cheap insurance, and for me provides peace of mind. It also frees a piece of my mind to remember other stuff. Good luck. Reply Re: Horrible Experience by RedheadwGlasses Posted Wed March 19, 2008 @ 8:32 PM I think it's really sad when we can't trust the representative of a (supposedly) legitimate, major national business to tell the truth to a potential customer. I don't blame you for being upset. Reply